The original plan for Germantown divided the area into a downtown and six town villages:[4] Gunners Lake Village, Kingsview Village,[5] Churchill Village, Middlebrook Village,[6] Clopper's Mill Village, and Neelsville Village.[citation needed] The Churchill Town Sector at the corner of Maryland Route 118 and Middlebrook Road most closely resembles the downtown, or center, of Germantown, due to the location of the Upcounty Regional Services Center, the Germantown Public Library, the Black Rock Arts Center, the Regal Germantown Stadium 14, and a pedestrian shopping that features an array of restaurants. Three exits to Interstate 270 are less than one mile away, the Maryland Area Regional Commuter train is within walking distance, and the Germantown Transit Center that provides Ride On shuttle service to the Shady Grove station of the Washington Metro's Red Line.

In the 1830s and 1840s, the central business area was focused around the intersection of Liberty Mill Road and Clopper Road. Several German immigrants set up shop at the intersection and the town became known as "German Town", even though most residents of the town were of English or Scottish descent.[8]

Germantown did not have a public school until after the end of the American Civil War. During that time, education was handled at homes. In 1868, a one-room schoolhouse was built on Maryland Route 118, near Black Rock Road, which hosted children from both Germantown and neighboring Darnestown. In 1883, a larger one-room schoolhouse was built closer to Clopper Road. Another, newer school was constructed in 1910, on what is now the site of Germantown Elementary School. This school had four rooms, with two downstairs and two upstairs, with each room housing two grade levels. After the eighth grade, the students would head via train to nearby Rockville, for further education.[9]

Although it avoided much of the physical destruction that ravaged other cities in the region, the American Civil War was still a cause of resentment and division among residents of Germantown. Many Germantown residents, particularly those of German ancestry, were against slavery and had sons fighting for the Union Army. In contrast, other residents of Germantown, particularly those of English ancestry, owned slaves, and even those who weren't slave-owners had sons fighting for the Confederate Army. As a result, many people in Germantown, who were once on friendly terms with each other, made an effort not to interact with each other, such as switching churches, or frequenting a store or mill miles away from the ones they'd normally do business with.[10]

Late in the summer and fall of 1861, there were more than twenty thousand Union Army soldiers camped to the west of Germantown, in neighboring Darnestown and Poolesville. Occasionally, these soldiers would come to Germantown and frequent the stores there. In September 1862, and in June of 1863, several regiments of Union Army soldiers marched north on Maryland Route 355, on their way to the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Gettysburg, respectively. In July 1864, General Jubal Early led his army of Confederate soldiers down Maryland Route 355 to attack the Union capital of Washington, D.C. Throughout the course of the war, Confederate raiders would often come through the Germantown area. Local farmers in the Germantown area lost horses and other livestock to both Union and Confederate armies.[11]

The wooden structure of the Bowman Brothers Mill fell victim to a fire in 1914, but four years later, the owners were back in business again, selling the mill to the Liberty Milling Company, a brand new corporation. Augustus Selby was the first owner and manager of the new Liberty Mill, which opened in 1918. Electricity was brought into Liberty Mill and also served the homes and businesses nearby, making Germantown the first area in the northern portion of Montgomery County to receive electricity.[14]

In 1935, professional baseball player Walter Perry Johnson, who played as a pitcher for the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins), purchased a farm on what is now the site of Seneca Valley High School. Used as a dairy farm, Johnson lived there with his five children and his mother, as his wife died, until his death in 1946.[15]

"Feed the Liberty Way" was used as a slogan for Liberty Mill which, with eight silos, became the second largest mill in all of Maryland, supplying flour to the United States Army during World War II. Cornmeal and animal feed were also manufactured at Liberty Mill, and a store at the mill sold specialty mixes, such as pancake and muffin mix.[16]

Marshall Davis owned a farm located where Interstate 270 and Germantown Road intersect today.[18] After Interstate 270 divided his farm in two, Davis decided to sell the last of his land to the International Development Corporation for about $1,300 per acre in 1955.[18]Fairchild-Hiller Corporation bought the land for about $4,000 per acre in 1964, and it built an industrial park on the land four years later.[18] Harry Unglesee and his family sold their farm near Hoyles Mill Road for less than $1,000 per acre in 1959.[18] Other farmers soon sold their land to developers and speculators as well.[18]

The Germantown Master Plan was adopted in 1967.[19] The plan for the 17-square-mile (44 km2) area included a dense central downtown area and less dense development surrounding it.[6] In 1974, the Montgomery County Council approved an amended plan written by the Montgomery County Planning Board.[19] The amended plan included a downtown area and six separate villages, each comprising smaller neighborhoods with schools, shopping areas, and public facilities.[6] The amended plan also included the construction of a third campus for Montgomery College near the downtown area.[6]

During the 1970s, Wernher von Braun, a German rocket scientist during World War II, worked for the aerospace company Fairchild Industries, which had offices in Germantown, as its Vice President for Engineering and Development. Von Braun worked at Fairchild Industries from July 1, 1972 until his death.

Following the end of World War II, the Liberty Mill went into disrepair, and was finally destroyed by an arsonist in 1971.[20] In 1974, the completion of a sewer line helped the development and growth of Germantown.[21]

The Germantown Campus of Montgomery College opened on October 21, 1978. At the time, it consisted of two buildings, 24 employees, and 1,200 students. Enrollment had increased to five thousand students by 2003, with eighty employees across four buildings. A steel water tower modeled after the Earth can be seen from orbiting satellites in outer space. As of 2008, a forty-acre bio-technology laboratory was nearing completion.[22]

Since the early 1980s, Germantown has experienced rapid economic and population growth, both in the form of townhouses and single-family dwellings, and an urbanized "town center" has been built. Germantown was the fastest growing zip code in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and Maryland in 1986, and the 1980s saw a population growth of 323.3% for Germantown.[23]

In 2000, the Upcounty Regional Services Center (now the Sidney Kramer Upcounty Regional Services Center)[24] opened in Germantown, and a 16,000 square feet section of the first floor was home to the Germantown Public Library for several years.[25]

In 2000 the Maryland Soccerplex opened in Germantown. The sports complex includes nineteen natural grass fields, three artificial fields, a 5,200 seat soccer stadium with lighting and press box, eight indoor convertible basketball/volleyball courts. Two miniature golf courses, a driving range, and a swim center. The soccerplex is the current home of the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League.

In March 2001, Germantown's only movie theater, the Sony 6, located at the Germantown Commons Shopping Center, closed down as part of a closure of 112 movie theaters across the United States by Loews Cineplex, leaving Germantown without a movie theater of its own. As a result, local residents frequented a movie theater in Kentlands or one at The Rio in Gaithersburg. Over a year later, on May 3, 2002, the Hoyts Cinema 14, now the Regal Germantown Stadium 14, opened, and Germantown now had its own movie theater once again.[26][27] A DSW footwear retail store now sits on the site of the former Sony 6 theater.

In June 2002, it was announced that a Staples and Best Buy store would open at Germantown's Milestone Shopping Center later that fall. Opening later that year, the Best Buy store replaced a Homeplace store that had closed down in 2001 following that company's disbandment.[28][29]

In 2007, at a cost of 19 million dollars, the Germantown Public Library moved from the Upcounty Regional Services Center to its current location, at a separate 44,193 square foot facility at the nearby Germantown Town Center.[25]

The intersection of Maryland Route 118 and Middlebrook Road in downtown Germantown in January 2008.

On August 14, 2011, a 7-Eleven convenience store in downtown Germantown fell victim to a flash mob robbery, in which nearly forty people walked into the store, grabbed merchandise, and subsequently fled with the stolen goods, all without paying. The incident garnered widespread attention in the United States and internationally.[30]

On September 29, 2013, the Upcounty Regional Services Center in Germantown was renamed as the Sidney Kramer Upcounty Regional Services Center, after Sidney Kramer, the Montgomery County executive from 1986 to 1990.[24]

Holy Cross Health opened a 237,000-square-foot (22,000 m2) hospital on the campus of Montgomery College in October 2014. The 93-bed hospital is projected to eventually bring 5,000 jobs to the area.[31]

The U.S. Department of Energy has its headquarters for the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in Germantown. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission was moved from its location in downtown Washington, D.C. to the present-day U.S. Department of Energy building in Germantown, due to fears of a Soviet nuclear attack on the U.S. capital. At the time, Germantown was believed to be far enough from Washington, D.C. to avoid the worst effects of a nuclear strike on the city. The facility now operates as an administration complex for the U.S. Department of Energy.

As of 2013 estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, Germantown had a population of 90,676. As of the census of 2010, there were 86,395 people, and 30,531 households residing in the area. The population density was 8,019 people per square mile (3,096.6/km²). The racial makeup of the area was 36.3% White, 21.8% African American, 0.2% Native American, 19.7% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.4% of the population.

There were 20,893 households out of which 41.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the area, the population was spread out with 28.9% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 43.0% from 25 to 44, 17.3% from 45 to 64, and 3.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.

The median income for a household in Germantown was $76,061 as of a 2010 estimate by the website, City-Data.[37] 6.5% of the population and 3.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 5.9% are under the age of 18 and 9.9% are 65 or older.

The Montgomery County public transit bus system, Ride On, serves Germantown with approximately 20 bus routes and operates a major transit hub in Germantown, known as the Germantown Transit Center. Also, a light rail system (the Corridor Cities Transitway) is under evaluation which would, when completed, connect the terminal of the Washington Metro Red Line at Shady Grove Station near Gaithersburg to Germantown and continue on northward to Clarksburg.

The BlackRock Center for the Arts is located in the downtown Germantown, at the Germantown Town Center. The BlackRock Center for the Arts also sponsors the Germantown Oktoberfest, an annual festival held every year in the fall, which includes various genres of music, including traditional German folk, rock and pop.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. The crossroads became known as "German town" because of the heavy German accents of these people. The name has stuck even though a majority of the land-owners in the area were of English or Scottish descent.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. There was no public school in Germantown until after the Civil War. Before that time school was held in people's homes. In 1868 there was a one-room school on built on Rt. 118 near Blackrock Road that served the children of both Germantown and Darnestown. In 1883 a larger one-room school was built closer to Clopper Road to teach the children of Germantown. Another new school was built in 1910 on the present site of Germantown Elementary school. This school had four rooms--two downstairs and two upstairs--each room housing two grades. After eighth grade the children rode the train to attend high-school in Rockville.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. The Civil War took a terrible toll on Germantown, not because there was any actual fighting here, but because of the animosities between neighbors that it created. Many of the families of German descent were against slavery and had sons fighting in the Union army. Many of the families of English descent owned slaves and even many who didn't had sons fighting in the Confederate army. Many people who had formerly been friendly went out of their way to not have to deal with each other, some changing churches, or going to a mill or store miles distant from the one they usually used.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. In the late summer and fall of 1861 there were more than 20,000 Union soldiers camped to the west of Germantown in the Darnestown and Poolesville areas. Sometimes these soldiers would come to the stores in Germantown. In September, 1862, and June, 1863, many regiments of Union soldiers marched north on Rt. 355 on their way to the Battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. In July, 1864, Gen. Jubal Early led his Confederate army down Rt. 355 to attack Washington, D.C. Confederate raiders also came through the area several times during the War. Local farmers lost horses and other livestock to the armies of both sides.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. George Adzerodt had come to the town with his family from Prussia when he was about nine years old. When he was about 16 his father moved the family to Virginia, but George still had many friends and relatives in Germantown. He was living in Port Tobacco during the Civil War, and supplementing his meager income as a carriage painter by smuggling people across the Potomac River in a row boat. This clandestine occupation brought him into contact with John Seuratt and John Wilkes Booth and he was drawn into a plot to kidnap President Lincoln. On April 14, 1865 John Wilkes Booth gave George Adzerodt a gun and told him that he was to kill the vice president, Andrew Johnson. George panicked when he found out that Booth had shot President Lincoln and made his way to his cousin's, Hartman Richter's, house in Germantown to hide. He was discovered there by soldiers three days after the assassination and, although he had never actually committed a crime, was hanged with other conspirators on July 7.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. Fire engulfed the old wooden structure of the Bowman Brothers Mill in 1914, but four years later they were in business again and sold the mill to a brand new corporation--the Liberty Milling Company. Augustus Selby was the first owner/manager of the new mill which opened in 1918. Electricity was brought into the mill and also served the homes and businesses nearby, making this the first area in the northern part of the county to get electricity.

^ abGermantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. Johnson bought his dream farm in Germantown in 1935 and lived here with his five children and his mother, his wife having passed away, until his death in 1946. His dairy farm was located where Seneca Valley High School is today. He was elected by the local people to two terms as a County Commissioner.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. "Feed the Liberty Way" was the slogan for the mill which, with its 8 silos, became the second largest mill in Maryland and supplied flour for the army during World War II. Cornmeal and animal feed were also made at the mill, and a mill store sold specialty mixes like pancake and muffin mix.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. After the war the mill went into decline, and was burned by arson in 1971.

^Germantown Historical Society. "Germantown's History, A Brief Overview". Germantown Historical Society. Retrieved March 10, 2013. The area felt a new surge of energy with the building of interstate 270 in the 1960s. For a while the old and the new mixed as employees of the Atomic Energy Commission (now the Department of Energy) came to the old Germantown store for lunch and Mr. Burdette's cows often had to be cleared from the road. When the sewer line was completed in 1974 building in Germantown began in earnest.

^Coleman, Margaret (2008). Then & Now: Around Germantown. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 72. ISBN978-0-7385-5416-7. Retrieved March 8, 2013. Montgomery College, Germantown Campus, opened October 21, 1978, with two buildings, 1,200 students, and a faculty of 24. A steel water towel modeled Planet Earth as seen from a satellite. By 2003, enrollment was 5,000 with 80 faculty members in four buildings. A 40-acre biotechnology laboratory is nearing competition in 2008.

^ abColeman, Margaret (2008). Then & Now: Around Germantown. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 58. ISBN978-0-7385-5416-7. Retrieved March 8, 2013. Until recent years, Germantown book lovers went to the library in Gaithersburg or patronized the weekly bookmobile. In the year 2000, the Upcounty Regional Services Center opened and the largest first-floor space became the library. In 2007, the Germantown Public Library opened at a cost of $19 million. Now library space is enlarged from 16,000 to 44,193 square feet on two levels. There are 180,000 volumes on the shelves, and 37 PCs available for public use.

^Andre Taylor and Meghan Tierney (July 7, 2010). "Germantown musician performs at rock hall of fame". The Gazette. Retrieved March 10, 2013. Malachi, 26, of Germantown, got to honor the late pop star as part of a weekend tribute to Jackson at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, from June 25 to 27.